Introduction

I am not sure how I got introduced to this manga in the first place. I think I randomly saw the cover for volume 1, the art style immediately gripped me, so I just got it and the rest is history. I started around 2017 or 2018 but have been following its volume release, for years at this point. So, volume 11 arrived, and I said to myself, " I need to reread the series before volume 11" because they had so many major revelations and a lot nuance that escaped my brain, due to the passage of time. Not sure why it took a while for me to start this reread, but I knew this was a perfect time. I am so glad that I was patient before devouring volume 11 because this was a beautiful ending to this masterpiece.

Plot

The plot though interesting, by far isn’t the heart of this story. Just look up Seven Seas Entertainment synopsis and it does a much better job, of establishing the broad strokes than I can. To me, it serves as more of a backdrop to the main central thrust of the narrative which is the relationship between “Teacher” (who is an outsider) and Shiva (who is human). They have this interesting parental dynamic, to me felt cute, realistic, and just raw. The series shines when these two are on screen. Though this is sold as a Drama, Fantasy and Mystery one aspect that is weirdly negated is that large spans of the story are a Slice of Life. Nagabe is such a talented author and just knows to pace a scene perfectly. It never bogged down, it has a lot of breathing room but it doesn’t feel slow at all. He is excellent at conveying the right sense of exposition, never too much but never making you completely out of the loop. The highlight was the character work, Shiva and Teacher are so compelling to read. The teacher acts like a doting father and Shiva is that mischievous and beloved daughter figure. Though they are not biologically related they are as tight as that, the bond between the two is just beautiful. Honestly feel the character work in general is underrated. Sure, some appear very briefly, but honestly, Nagabe uses his time so effectively they don't feel one-dimensional. Most of them have a sense of history and some depth to them. Their reasonings are usually sound from their perspective. The saying less is more is preached here, and he uses that for his worldbuilding. This is not the aim of the story, so it's not a super unique premise (nor world) but it feels like a Fairy Tale, so it doesn't need that elaborate history. But it does have some lore drops throughout the story, especially during the latter half, which I loved.

Art

Though Nagabe is not the most detailed artist, he conveys what he intends so masterfully. Just from page 1, this beautiful dark fairy tale vibe is instantly evoked. It's fantasy but feels more classical, just read it, and you will understand that feeling. One aspect about old fantasy which I love is that it feels timeless story, and this is very much the case here. Furthermore, I think he is one of the best artists in terms of conveying shade. The atmosphere makes you completely enraptured. Doesn’t matter if it’s a spread, or a small panel the attention to detail is amazing.

Panelling

What’s more impressive than the technical art, is how it all panelled and framed. This is always an aspect of storytelling for manga that goes underappreciated. Just as a whole the artist just knows his craft. It's hard to describe, but man it's so brilliant. Sure, it's not as inventive as some of the panel work in I am a Hero or Hiroaki Samura's works (Blade of the Immortal author). It just has such a seamless quality to It. For example, in volume 1 they only have one double spread. The double spreads, in general, are very sparse, when they are featured it's usually a big impact scene. He is excellent when depicting comedy, or even just using small frames for action sequences. They a certain chase sequence it felt like it came from Osamu Tezuka at moments, which is high praise from me.

Conclusion

Overall, this is just a masterpiece. Hard to communicate how good this manga is, so all I will say is if your fan of the following: Neil Gaiman, Fairy tales, fantasy, atmospheric art, and father-daughter relationships I think you will particularly love this manga. Regarding the ending, well it delivered big time for me, and I doubt people will be disappointed. Can’t wait to reread this again, in the future.

Note: I just read Volume 12 Side Stories, which was a delightful read.